CAMARO Z/28.R AT ROAD ATLANTA: Front Row Start For Championship Race
Stevenson Motorsports No. 6 Camaro Z/28.R to start out front after rain cancels qualifying
BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 1, 2015) – The final race of the 2015 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge will see Chevrolet’s Camaro Z/28.R leading the field to the green flag at Road Atlanta. As rain cancelled Thursday’s qualifying session, Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 6 Camaro Z/28.R starts from pole position. With the grid for the two-hour, 30-minute race being set by Driver points, Grand Sport (GS) championship leaders Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell are that much closer to clinching the Driver’s title.
Chevrolet leads the GS Manufacturer Championship and is on the verge of winning its second Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge title and first in the GS class. All the Bowtie Brand needs is for one of its four Camaro Z/28.Rs to take the green flag to start the race. That will assure Chevrolet of scoring enough points to take the championship.
Davis and Liddell can wrap up the Driver’s Championship as long as either completes 45 minutes of driving. The Davis/Liddell duo have scored four wins this year including the most recent round two weeks ago at Circuit of The Americas.
Stevenson Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R of Matt Bell and Lawson Aschenbach will start fifth on the grid. They are looking to add another podium to a season that has seen runner-up finishes at Sebring and VIR.
Mantella Autosport’s No. 80 MBRP/Praxair/The Sport Lab Camaro Z/28.R of Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli will start seventh. The team’s No. 8 Gulf/Spyder Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R of Anthony Mantella and Mark Wilkins is slated to start 10th in class.
The Camaro Z/28.R won five times during its 2014 debut season. It is based on the road-going Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, and the two share considerable traits:
Engine and displacement (7.0-liter V-8, 427 cubic inches)
Front splitter and rear spoiler with wickerbill
Hood extractor vent
Rockers, wheel-house extension and front tire deflectors
Belly pan
The Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race from Road Atlanta is set for 12:15 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 2 with live coverage on IMSA.com and IMSA Radio. Television coverage on FOX Sports 1 is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 18.
ANDREW DAVIS, STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS NO. 6 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R: “I’m happy to be starting on pole. The way the rules are set up, it’s a reward for a job well done by Stevenson Motorsports this year. We’re starting up there and I’ll have the best view in the house in unfavorable conditions, which will be important. Our guys have worked hard preparing our Camaro Z/28.Rs. We’ve tried to set the car up to be good wet or dry. There will likely be some variable conditions tomorrow so we’ll see where we’re at. I wanted to qualify of course, but I’m still happy with the outcome.”
ROBIN LIDDELL, STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS NO. 9 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – STARTS FOURTH: “The spanner in the works is the potential weather. We’d rather have dry race just from a safety and predictability standpoint. From my point of view, it doesn’t matter how we ended up on pole; being on pole is the absolute best place you can be – rain or shine. I have every confidence in Andrew’s ability to do what he does so well, no matter the conditions, as well as the crew’s capabilities. We’ll just run everything as we normally would. I’d like to think that if we do 45 minutes and I get in the car, the pressure is off me and I can enjoy the race and hopefully support the 9 car in their push for third place in the championship.”